MANILA, Philippines — At least 17 Filipino-Americans have died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the U.S. Midwest, Philippine Consul General in Chicago Gina Jamoralin said Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, half of those deaths are from our health workers,” Jamoralin said in a televised briefing.
Jamoralin said the 17 deaths were out of 42 recorded cases of Filipino-Americans with COVID-19 in the region.
Meanwhile, Jamoralin said Illinois alone has 90,000 COVID-19 recorded cases.
“Illinois ranked third in the number of cases in the whole United States after New Jersey and New York,” she said.
Despite this, Jamoralin noted Illinois is already in the process of “flattening the curve” by conducting 10,000 tests per day.
“We are now in Phase 2 which is flattening the curve. The number of cases is stabilizing, if not declining. So we are looking forward to going to Phase 3 which is called recovery period,” she said.
The United States remains to have the highest number of COVID-19 cases worldwide with over 1.5 million infections and over 91,000 fatalities.